"Akai Meiro" drama, episode 24 of 26 recap

 

 Air Dates: October 4, 1974 until March 28, 1975... Friday nights at 9:00 pm on TBS/Daiei

There's 26 episodes that are 46 minutes in length, this series is also known as Red Maze

 Once again the subs were done by GEO9875, fifth series I've recapped by them. This is the first of a long running RED series, there were a few more dramas and some TV specials.

The average rating for the drama was 18.9% with a high of 22.7%.

Main Cast: Thanks again to GEO9875 for doing the subs for this series, another classic that has been revived. This could prove to be a challenge for me and may write up 6-8 recaps before publishing any. The recent series I finished "Abunai Deka" had 51 episodes but all were stand alone stories. This drama is one long 26 episode story so don't want to have long gaps between the recaps, every now and again do need a break so that's where the challenge will be. Am writing most of this up after viewing two shows, know there will be much editing to the character's bios and a few new ones may have to be added in. But I am looking forward to this series and it has started off strongly, except for a pair of Sentai shows this is the oldest drama I've viewed. 

 This drama has such a strong cast, so many were stars at the time or became one. Ken Utsui is the older man above, he sadly died ten years ago but what a terrific actor he was. Playing his wife who died early on was Akiko Koyama, she'll be turning ninety this year and have seen her in so many older films, she was so classy and attractive. Momoe Yamaguchi needs no intro as she may be the most popular Idol in the history of Japan, recommend reading up on her. Yusaku Matsuda died at the age of forty in 1989, he was a star actor but could be known more for being the father of two current popular actors Ryuhei and Shota Matsuda. Some others in the main cast are also known, will talk about a few of them in future posts. Below on the left is Takeo who was killed at the end of the first episode, on the right is her old friend Yukiho and could that conversation be the key behind everything that will take place?

 Ken Utsui as Masato Yuki.... A psychiatrist who has just returned to Japan after spending three years in NYC as a college lecturer/professor about the minds of criminals. In Tokyo Masato works at Towa Medical University Hospital, he's the leader of a new section called Laboratory of Criminal Psychology and Medicine. Masato's wife was Takeo who was murdered early on, he's the father of the next character Akiko. He seems to be a calm and collected individual but does Masato have a secret past, such as did he have an affair with Yukiko? That never happened but in the fifth episode we did learn that Masato isn't the true father of Akiko, who is? The answer to that is in the final character bio.

 Momoe Yamaguchi as Akiko Yuki.... Masato's fifteen year old daughter who is a freshman in high school. She's also the daughter of the following woman and a major question is if Akiko is truly Taeko's daughter, will be doing much editing for this character. Which hadn't happened through ten shows but since then Akiko's role had grown and she could be the key figure to all of these incidents and mysteries.

 Akiko Koyama as Taeko Yuki.... Though she was murdered at the end of the first episode still have her in this section as Taeko is so important to the story. We will be seeing her in flashbacks as the main story is finding out who was her killer? While Masato was in America a huge question is was Taeko having an affair, she acted so secretly upon his return. Another puzzle for now is if Taeko is the birth mother of Akiko? No and that was revealed in the fourth episode but Taeko had raised her since birth.

Yusaki Matsuda as Jun Tsuzuki....  Jun is 26 in age and is currently unemployed, he had been a construction worker. He's the younger brother of the below woman, something unknown(for now) happened in Jun's past which has made him so dour and unsociable. At the end of the second episode he was arrested for the murder of Taeko but personally think he's innocent. In March 1971 his then girlfriend Fujiko had been raped and murdered by a middle aged man. Masato had done the evaluation on this man who he deemed unfit to stand trial which would be Jun's motive if he is the actual killer of Taeko. Jun was arrested again in the sixth episode for Taeko's murder but near the end of episode eight was released. The key bit of evidence had been his work helmet but according to the Forensics Unit it had been tampered with and who is trying to frame Jun? That ended up being Misaki who was charged in episode twenty with her killing. Around the 16th show Jun began to have problems with his arms and fingers, Kyoko deduced it was Meningioma which is similar to a brain tumor. Jun's condition ended up getting much worse, in the 20th show he became blind and shortly after died in Kyoko's arms.

Aiko Nagayama as Yukiko Sakurai.... Jun's older sister who is married but it seems to be a loveless marriage. Yukiko also has a few mysteries surrounding her, one is did she have an affair with Masato before he went to America three years ago? She had grown up with Taeko but the pair did drift apart, because of the affair? Or perhaps something else such as I'm thinking that Yukiko is the birth mother of Akiko!!!! The two women hold a very dark secret and have for fifteen years, that happens to be the age of Akiko! **** In episode five it was revealed Yukiko is the true mother of Akiko, the father's name is Egami who killed someone fifteen years ago and is still on the lam.

Ryoko Nakano as Kyoko Sonoda.... New clinical psychologist in Masato's criminal unit. Kyoko seems to be such a nosy woman but also very competent at her work, she is very attractive and wonder if she has set her eyes upon her leader Masato? Yes she does which many have noticed though not Masato, Kyoko had attended a university in Germany. Beginning with the 14th show began to wonder if Kyoko may be involved with all of these sordid incidents, if so that would make for such an interesting storyline. But it wasn't to be, think the writers made many characters suspicious to throw us viewers off. 

 Makoto Sato as Yusaku Yanagida.... Prosecutor who is also Masato's lawyer, advisor and his best friend. The pair have known each other for decades and Yanagida seems to be a real decent man who is also trying to solve the mystery of Taeko's murder, that's him on the left below. He too once had the hots for Taeko but lost out to Masato though it never affected their friendship.

Masaya Takahashi as Professor Oyama.... He's Masato's superior at the university and don't know much about him to to date but he doesn't seem to like Masato and may not be trustworthy. That's Oyama on the right below, he cares more about the college's image than his own staff. In the fifth show some anger had arisen with the university staff because of Masato doing the evaluation of Jun, in a surprise Oyama has his back and will stand up for him. No longer as in episode ten Oyama will now be the leader of Masato's criminal lab and will take all of the credit! **** In episode 19 Oyama gave Masato back the leadership of the criminal lab again. But more importantly Oyama tried to run over Masato at the end of the show, it wasn't the first time he had tried that and Oyama soon drove his car into a bay at Izu ending his life.

 Here's a few others of the cast who we see now and again though don't have huge roles.

Goro Oshi as Goro Murai.... Owner of the Village Snack shop seen often and Jun's best friend. Goro was also good friends with Misaki who visited his snack bar often. 

Norihiko Yamamoto as Toshihiko Misaki.... A photographer and a character whose role wasn't that large or important until the 15th episode. However Jun had his suspicions about Misaki such as was he involved in the harassment of Masato's family and could he have possibly murdered Taeko? It appears the answer to that is yes, Misaki was arrested in the 20th show for her murder and did confess but it also appears he may have been working under someone or possibly could have had an accomplice. 

Goro Tarumi as Hidehiko Sakurai.... Yukiko's husband and owns a combo clothing factory and store. They had been in Yukiko's family for decades but had fallen upon hard times, Hidehiko has worked hard to make it profitable again.

Isao Tamagawa as Sakazaki.... Lead detective for Taeko's murder case.

Toshiaki Nishizawa as Masaru Egami.... We first learned of him at the end of the fifth episode. Over fifteen years ago he had been dating Yukiko in Kyoto and had gotten her pregnant. In March 1959 Egami had robbed and murdered a woman, since then he's been on the lam but is the.... true father of Akiko!!!! Many who knew of Egami thought he was dead but has now resurfaced in Tokyo, why as the statue of limitations ends in less than four months and could be have been involved in Taeko's murder? By the end of the eleventh show is doesn't appear so but it also seems as though an unknown man is trying to protect Egami from the police and Masato.

Previous recaps.... May be difficult to read many of them but if you've been following the story there would be no need. However much does happen in each show so don't have the time to explain everything that has taken place up until this point, some of the above is very informative but reading a few of these would definitely help.

 

Episode one .... Episode two .... Episode three .... Episode four

Episode five .... Episode six .... Episode seven .... Episode eight

Episode nine .... Episode ten .... Episode eleven .... Episode twelve

Episode thirteen .... Episode fourteen .... Episode fifteen .... Episode sixteen

Episode seventeen .... Episode eighteen .... Episode nineteen .... Episode twenty

Episode 21 .... Episode 22

 

 Accomplished my goal of writing enough recaps up in advance so there would never be more than a 3-4 day gap between posts. Don't have any written up after this one as I don't want to know yet how things will end but the final pair should be done within four days. In that last post will give my grade and thoughts about the series which both will be high and positive. Though wish the murder of Taeko remained the main story, after seven episodes the main storyline was of Akiko's secret birth which did tie in with her mother's killing. But once again we didn't see Misaki who has been accused of murdering Taeko, no evaluation with Masato nor any news of his trial so those will have to be rushed in the next two episodes. 

 As usual the previous show ended on a cliffhanger, once again we didn't see the outcome but did learn of what took place. Akiko had called Kyoko to meet her at Nature Park, she wants the true details of what crime did her true father Egami commit. Kyoko had told Masato of the meeting but told him she could take care of it but Masato did follow her there. When Akiko asked if her father was a killer Kyoko wasn't sure on how to answer that and we'll never know how she would have. Because appearing on the scene was Masato, he told Kyoko he'll take of the rest which happened. Masato showed Akiko some old newspaper clippings of the murder Egami committed and filled in the blanks so now she knows about her entire past. That should catch everyone up with where we stand let's get to what took place in this show.

 The first scene was a long one and all of the screenshots above are from it. In the last show Akiko had decided to live with her real mother Yukiko and the biggest reason was because Akiko didn't want to be a 'guinea pig' for her father's new research, that's explained in the previous recap. Akiko seems to just spend the nights at Yukiko's residence, very often she's at her old home during the day or at least after school. Akiko returned to Masato's home after that bombshell about Egami, he quickly called Yukiko up to come over. Masato told her everything that he had said, there may be no secrets left that Akiko doesn't know about and Yukiko wondered was his decision the correct one? Up until two episodes ago Masato's biggest goal in his life was keeping that secret from Akiko forever but after that speech at a conference two shows ago he changed his mind, a little urging from Kyoko and Yanagida was a factor too. I though Masato had been way too protective of Akiko not learning about her past, she's a mature fifteen(16?) in age and could handle the truth, now how does she feel about her real father Egami?

 Thought Akiko would be forgiving as Egami is a decent man and his murdering a person was so out of character for him. After getting fired from Yukiko's family tailoring company because of the affair he had with her Egami had to turn to crime to support his new family as Yukiko was pregnant, the pair had planned on eloping. But during a robbery Egami was taken by surprise, when he struggled with the woman whose house he was in Egami happened to kill her. He had no plans on doing that and for almost fifteen years has been on the lam, the statue of limitations will expire in three weeks. Not sure if Akiko knew all of the details of that incident but she now feels that any person who commits a murder should be shown no mercy, the opposite of how Masato feels! During this whole scene Yukiko constantly blamed herself for what happened fifteen years ago but never quite explained why she felt that way. She had zero to do with Egami becoming a criminal, perhaps giving up Akiko was a mistake though at the time Yukiko had no other options but Akiko did grow up in a solid household. A bit more was said and some of that is above but time to move on to what else took place in this show.

 When Yukiko arrived home from Masato's that note in the top screenshot above was attached to her front gate, 'It's all Yukiko's fault'! There's still a pair of Setagaya detectives keeping an eye on her house should Egami ever appear which will happen later on. Yukiko slumped to the ground after seeing the note and the detectives summoned her housekeeper Kume to help Yukiko out. Kume is in the second screenshot above and if I had to place money on who wrote that note it would be on her! She's been in every episode but only for about forty seconds a show but the last four episodes I've had my suspicions about Kume, I think she's been writing these kinds of notes along with doing some other sneaky things but why? The following morning Masato visited his best friend Yanagida, he'll be the prosecutor for Misaki's trial and why has there been no mention of that for two shows? Masato showed Yanagida the note, at first most felt Misaki had an accomplice but now Yanagida doesn't think so and the person who wrote the note probably had zero to do with Taeko's murder. The pair also talked about a photo that was planted at Yukiko's house in the previous episode, my money is once again on Kume doing that but neither man brought her name up.

 Masato then received a call from Yukiko's husband Hidehiko, since reading that note Yukiko has become so despondent and could Masato talk with her? Which he did and Yukiko is still blaming herself for all of the recent incidents regarding Egami, it's not her fault at all and that's what Masato said but think his comments went in one ear and out the other. To Masato finding Egami is the KEY to this harassment stopping but that may not be the case for as mentioned think the housekeeper Kume is behind much of it. Masato was showing a photo of Egami around Nature Park where he would often meet Akiko, by pure chance Masato noticed him behind a tree and dashed over to him. Masato doesn't want to turn over Egami to the police but instead wants him to have a talk with Akiko and also hopefully Yukiko to clear the air of why he did those things in the past. Figured at the time Egami said no but as it turned out he will be meeting with his daughter and also his one time lover. Akiko does need to talk with her true father Egami as she's developed this hatred for his crime and to her no killers deserve any justice. Actually Akiko has had that attitude since her mother Taeko was murdered but it's grown so much worse. That's what Akiko was telling Kyoko above and we didn't see her as much in this episode. Akiko did ask Kyoko how she felt about her father Masato such as are there any romantic feelings but Kyoko was able to sidestep those questions.

 That mini chat between Akiko and Kyoko was broken up by the man in the top two screenshots above. His name is Saijo and he was mentioned in the last recap. He had gone to the same university in Germany as Kyoko and as a matter of fact is still there. Saijo came to Japan to attend that prestigious conference in episode 22 that Masato gave a speech at. The pair had dated briefly in Germany and Saijo would love to see Kyoko return there with him as Saijo has to go back the following day. To that Kyoko gave a polite NO to and that may be the last we hear of the man. Meanwhile Yukiko has received a call at home, it was from Egami who wanted to meet her and Akiko there. That would be difficult as Yukiko's house is still being staked out by the police but she did the same trick done three episodes ago. Yukiko left her house and was followed by the two detectives, with no one watching her residence Egami was able to easily slip in without being noticed.... however Kume knows he's there! Akiko joined Yukiko on this short walk, they returned about five minutes later and to Akiko's shock sitting in her new bedroom was her true father Egami!

 

 Egami took Masato's advice and tried to explain to Akiko the real story of what happened in 1959. After being fired from Yukiko's family tailoring company Egami turned to robbery to support himself, he was doing his last heist when he was discovered and in a struggle killed a woman. Egami had planned to take Yukiko and elope to Tokyo, the pair had been living in Kyoto, and hopefully in a new city Egami could get a fresh start. He was sincere but Akiko didn't want to hear any more stories or excuses, her father killed a person and because of that should never be forgiven! Egami was unable to respond to his daughter for outside Yukiko's house were about ten police officers, they arrived to arrest Egami! But luckily he was able to elude the police once again and that would have been ironic for in less than three weeks the statue of limitations for his murder will expire. Egami almost getting nabbed was thanks to Kume as we viewers saw her call the Setagaya police, why is she trying to make the lives of Yukiko and those around her so miserable? That's what Yanagida and Masato were discussing above, the voice to the police about Egami was so faint they couldn't tell if it was a man or woman. 

 That scene was taking place at Masato's house, arriving there was Akiko who seems to have recovered from seeing Egami almost nabbed. After school Akiko often goes to Masato's house to make sure there's enough food and the laundry is done, she has become an ace cook. So Akiko ended up preparing a meal for her father and Yanagida who helped her make a salad. In the second screenshot above Akiko asked him a very perplexing question plus had some other comments about her opinions. Which was why are criminals sent to prison, do prosecutors such as Yanagida, judges and the general public consider that to be a just punishment and if so why do so many criminals commit more crimes when they're released? Yanagida was stumped trying to come up with an answer, actually he didn't want to tell Akiko the truth about such matters for if a criminal isn't punished there would be lawlessness on the streets, no time for my political commentary. Wonder if Akiko asked that question because she's having second thoughts on how she spoke to her father Egami, perhaps there are special circumstances where someone commits a crime yet may not be a criminal. After that dinner Masato escorted Akiko back to Yukiko's and told Yanagida to wait though we never saw another conversation between the two.

 The next day Yukiko did pick up Akiko at school, when she first moved into Yukiko's house it didn't appear as though Akiko was happy at all. But that's slowly changing, she does miss Masato but Yukiko is a nice woman and does really care about Akiko. That evening the pair were making their first dinner together, should say Akiko as she's now an ace chef! What took place is in the bottom three screenshots above and there was only about a minute to go in the show. While chatting Yukiko happened to look out the window, it was dark outside but she did see something and slumped to the floor. Yukiko does have a heart condition but it hasn't flared up for at least five episodes. Akiko rushed over to help her mother but had no clue on what to do so looked out the window to see what made Yukiko collapse. That's the bottom screenshot above and there was a straw figure with a note attached to a tree that just said.... Yukiko. Does that mean she's being watched, will be the next victim of this person or whatever else, that we should learn in the next episode. Of course it had to be Kume again who put that note up, the police still have a stakeout so anyone entering the yard would have been noticed. That concludes this recap, won't view the last two shows until this post is published and those recaps should be done within four days.